THE ARCHIVES

100 years ago

Rev James Robertson was inducted yesterday by the UF Presbytery to St Andrew’s Church, Buckhaven, rendered vacant by Rev Walter Milburn accepting an Army chaplaincy. A social meeting was held in the evening, at which Mrs Adam Penman presented the new minister with a pulpit gown. Mr Robertson is a native of Perthshire. He was educated at Stirling, Glasgow University and the Divinity Hall, Edinburgh. He served as a missionary assistant at Ryehill Church in Dundee before accepting a call to Peterhead.

50 years ago

St Andrews police received two postcards from Dundee, sent by two 11-year-old girls who became lost at St Andrews while visiting with relatives. The police looked after them until relatives had been contacted on the two-mile long West Sands. One of the girls wrote: “I would like to thank you all very much for the bread and water you provided for me and my friend. I would not mind getting lost in St Andrews again. The bread and water had a taste strangely like cookies and lemonade!”

25 years ago

The engineering skills of the Victorian railway builders were celebrated in style at a remote Perthshire station. With ingenuity that would have impressed the men responsible for the scenic West Highland Line, the community in the Rannoch area turned centenary celebrations for the line into a massive charity fundraising effort. Realising that hundreds of railway enthusiasts were going to descend on Rannoch Station to see the first north-bound steam train over the line for 30 years, entertainment was laid on.

One year ago

A pensioner risked his life as he ignored flashing lights to drive across a level crossing at Carnoustie as the barrier was lowering. Forfar Sheriff Court was told the man was “distracted as he was late” when he carried out the manoeuvre. The 75-year-old’s solicitor said his client had used the crossing 20,000 to 30,000 times without incident. He said: “He has been driving for 50 years and has lived in the town for 40 years. “It was a moment of madness by him.” He pled guilty to a charge of failing to comply with a stop signal.